April 11, 2012
Thai Airways shares gained on Wednesday on lower fuel costs and expectations of strong earnings in the first quarter.
The airline was expected to report an operating profit of THB3.0 billion - THB3.5 billion baht (USD$96.90 million - USD$113.05 million) for the first quarter ended March due to fuel hedging and higher passenger numbers for the period, broker Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) said.
"Investors buy the airline's shares because of weaker crude and jet fuel prices which is very correlated to earnings performance," said an analyst at Maybank.
The country's flag carrier reported a net loss of THB5.39 billion baht, for the fourth quarter of 2011 because of severe floods that cut tourist numbers.
